The First Fight Advice Thread!!!!!!! (needs to be made a sticky)

[Suckmedry]

There's always tons of questions on here from guys wondering about their first fight and the circumstances etc

Some more general advice in case anyone wants it:

My main piece of advice is the weeks and months leading up to your first fight is just to get fit!! fitness fitness fitness, very important.


Make sure you pack everything you need!!! Mouthguard, wraps, groin guard, towel, shoes, shorts etc

When the time is nearing like in a few days, just start to relax.

When you get there to the venue, do whatever you feel relaxes you. This might be talking, listening to music, or taking a short walk around the place.

Make sure you go to the toliet before you warm up.

And when you are in there, just try as best you can to keep a clear head, and look for straight clean shots rather than wide punches.

Don't freak out if he comes running at you, he probably won't be able to keep it up. Just cover up and counter back. Then as he tires and drops off, you start to up the pressure more and more.

Don't worry about the crowd, they can't get in there and fight for the guy.

It can be helpful to read the official amateur boxing set of rules also

If you have to make weight for your first fight (you usually don't, unless it's a novice tournament) keep a healthy diet leading up to the fight, and don't start any fluid restriction or "drying out" until the afternoon or night before the weigh in. Also get to know your body before this, how much weight you can sleep off, lose on the toilet, lose at training etc

Don't obsess over winning and losing. A good coach will be satisfied if you go out there, keep decent technique, listen to what he says and do your best. Plus judging in boxing is very inconsistent. It's great to win and of course you should aim to, but fighting your best and learning is more important, especially at an early stage in your career.


You should enjoy fighting, it's the real part of boxing, the part that tests you and helps you get to the next level. Training for football but never playing would be boring wouldn't it?


Listen to all the referee's instructions.

Be a good sport in either winning or losing.

and good luck!!!

[hookoffdajab]

Have a honest talk with YOUr coach about fear,the history of some of his other fighters and there struggle with first fight jitters, read about performance anxiety and fear in competition period,have the fighter take a walk through of the area where they will be fighting ,so they don't tense up seeing the. ring for the first time,find tome to.zone out amd block the fight out or distract yourself from it until its time for you to warm up...too Mich mental energy spent on it. can leave you tired feeling...stretch the legs out good during the warm up and bounce around a lot to keep legs from feeling shakey or weak from nerves.

There's always tons of questions on here from guys wondering about their first fight and the circumstances etc

Some more general advice in case anyone wants it:

My main piece of advice is the weeks and months leading up to your first fight is just to get fit!! fitness fitness fitness, very important.


Make sure you pack everything you need!!! Mouthguard, wraps, groin guard, towel, shoes, shorts etc

When the time is nearing like in a few days, just start to relax.

When you get there to the venue, do whatever you feel relaxes you. This might be talking, listening to music, or taking a short walk around the place.

Make sure you go to the toliet before you warm up.

And when you are in there, just try as best you can to keep a clear head, and look for straight clean shots rather than wide punches.

Don't freak out if he comes running at you, he probably won't be able to keep it up. Just cover up and counter back. Then as he tires and drops off, you start to up the pressure more and more.

Don't worry about the crowd, they can't get in there and fight for the guy.

It can be helpful to read the official amateur boxing set of rules also

If you have to make weight for your first fight (you usually don't, unless it's a novice tournament) keep a healthy diet leading up to the fight, and don't start any fluid restriction or "drying out" until the afternoon or night before the weigh in. Also get to know your body before this, how much weight you can sleep off, lose on the toilet, lose at training etc

Don't obsess over winning and losing. A good coach will be satisfied if you go out there, keep decent technique, listen to what he says and do your best. Plus judging in boxing is very inconsistent. It's great to win and of course you should aim to, but fighting your best and learning is more important, especially at an early stage in your career.


You should enjoy fighting, it's the real part of boxing, the part that tests you and helps you get to the next level. Training for football but never playing would be boring wouldn't it?


Listen to all the referee's instructions.

Be a good sport in either winning or losing.

and good luck!!!

[{Pito}]

Jab, don't forget your jab. Right after every combination pump that jab.

[Freelancer]

If you're not feeling mentally able to train on a day when you were supposed to, pick yourself up and do it anyway, remember you will feel better after that morning run or afternoon gym workout, keep in mind that your self respect and confidence will grow with every little sacrifice you'll make to become better.

[kristenmickel]

Hey thanks for boosting the spirit by writing this thread.
It will definitely get use to all newbie to boxing..

[ScottDBA]

Be confident, but not ****y. If you trained hard, did your running, lots of sparring, kept a good diet yous hould feel confident that you will win. But when you do win, don't celebrate and go crazy. You beat a guy who is probably also having his first fight...you're didn't just win a world title.

Try to get all your fights on video. If you lose you can go back and look for things you did wrong and correct them. You can pick up mistakes in fights that you win to, but when I win a fight I mostly just like to watch me snap the guys head back over and over haha.

Each time you fight have the same breakfast, do the same warmup, listen to the same music etc. Keeping a routine will help you with any nerves you might be feeling because it won't be such a new experience and you will feel like you've been there before.

Don't sweat it if you lose. You still did something that 99% of people would never do. Enjoy the experience, learn from your mistakes and train harder next time.

[ChowAce]

Great post, I will be looking back to this post when it's my time to fight my first boxing match in September. For some reason in Holland, the amatuer boxing is split up into seasons with a 2 month break in July and August.

[TheTruthIs]

If you're in there against a local, and win, don't yell at the crowd..."Yeah! Fcuk ya all!" Learned that one the hard way... (short answer, "be polite")

In exchanges, try to be the last one throwing, no matter what. It'll help you get the pt. Even if you lost the exchange, if it is remotely close the judges tend to award whoever threw/hit last as they wait until it's over to score.

[Marlin26]

Defence is very important, if you take alot of shots in sparring, expect the same in the ring.

Straight punches are god tier, hooks and uppercuts feel more powerful for some people but straight punches are what make everything possible, especially the jab, If your lazy with your jab you might win some but eventually you'll run into someone with a great jab and then your done.

knocking an opponent down feels great, beating the crap out of him with your jab and making him look lost, out of breath and scared to throw feels even better.

Stance is the most important thing of all, if your legs are to close you wont be ready to throw all the time (my biggest mistake)

Parry punches like its non of their business

JAB

[mgkirkpatrick]

Wow, this is a quality thread in the t&n section.

I'll add a little to the list..

Don't worry if you're nervous..

You're fighting sober in front of scores of people against a guy who's trained to fight. Anyone can throw down at a bar or party, not many have the nuts to do it in the ring. It's a hell of an experience and, win or lose, something you'll never regret. Remember, the dude across the ring from you is asking himself all the same questions.

If you're in the right gym a good thing to do is remember the work you've put in. Remember the tough guys and tough rounds you've sparred in the gym. Remember you've eaten right and you're fit enough to go 6 minutes.

Like the other guys have said, scoring in amateur boxing is ****e, so don't worry too much about winning and losing - especially as a novice where it's about learning the trade.

Look to execute what you've trained for. Let your brain call the shots and not your ego.


And good luck!